Good show.

The beginning of set 2 is a mess (Honestly the UJB is NOT good) and there are vocal lapses all night, but there's enough desire and juice and hot stretches to make this well-worth hearing, and, agreed, the Stella Blue is excellent.

Now that there's been time for the anger to cool, can we please remember these are supposed to be reviews of the shows and sources? The ratings are supposed to be about the band's music, not their policies - there are forums for that. I've passed up excellent sources because of ratings that were dragged down artificially by people who maybe didn't even listen to the source, but just wanted to vent. You're only punishing us by doing that.

I wish they hadn't shut down the boards, either. But I've made friends on the bt sites, where I still have trouble keeping up with the number of boards posted there each day. It also made me take a second look at AUDs, and as a result I have scores of excellent shows on my drives now which I would have snubbed before.

This recording, independent of all else, gets 3 stars.

sound quality pretty good, but goes wonky during miracle and stella blue. no worries, they weren't especially well performed. not the best show, but has some improvisational attempts worth note: supplication, the jam after playin reprise. overall, it has that weird 86 quality.

as far as the politics goes, i am also bummed about the boards and pissed at their attitude, but ultimately it is within their rights. they never had a policy that we could tap into the boards, they allowed us to tape from the audience. boards got out because of the renegade activities of bob and betty, and healy getting bribed with drugs at shows. them tightening up is a drag, disorganized, with animosity, and at such a late stage in the game as to make one wonder. however, it is a business, and a failing one at that. they are not my personal friends, they are musicians with bad business sense. the fact that they are not making their boards available for a fee-based download just shows how disorganized and careless they are.

This sucks. They don't realise by removing the soundboards they're loosing listeners, not gaining them.

Not to beat a dead horse but here is an example of the Dead's generosity, an audience recording of a great show that is not worth the download. Any audience copy is a strugle once you have heard the boards. I have over 500 shows from the cassette trading days and have paid my dues so to speak with pursueing this music from whatever vantage point I had. I can not listen to an audience tape without thinking of how Bobby has really just f****ed us all. For all the years we have been participants on this bus to be now denied clear copies of these shows is nothing less than a direct insult to our love and devotion. This has been a real eye opener for me and I have been IN LOVE with this music since Sept. 21, 1971. Bringing back the Boards should be the over-riding issue of every deadhead out there. Pleading, begging, demanding but never being resigned to this complete annialiation of trust. (This review was intended for the show on the 19th...the 20th recording is so pitiful I cannot bare the commentary.)

lovely recording, fresh and present, full range (check taper notes for flaws during drums and space, the mud for d/s->miracle reduces the rating, but if this is a must have for you, still might be worth it). solid performance. in many ways, this was my favorite of the three night run (i was a HUGE terrapin fan at shows). bob's hystrionics during mags did not overshadow the FAT stella blue and the pre-drums jams. there was a buoyancy evident here that i never heard again after jerry's '86 illness: when things lock in here, they LOCK in. finally i get to have this memory back on tape, hopefully mine's better than the boys' were for lyrics during ujb!!!